Next Week Dinner Party menu help

[RPMcMurphy]

not going to go crazy, want to keep it simple, don't want to experiment much......

salad with balsamic strawberries and glazed pecans with a dijon vinegarette.

pork tenderloin medallions wrapped in bacon with a shallot/apple pan sauce
rosemary and garlic roasted baby potatoes
not sure what I'm going to do for veggie, was going to do glazed carrots but my menu is starting to sound fall/wintery??

dessert, something with pears??


Anyone have any suggestions/changes/additions? I wouldn't mind a light small appetizer

there will be 4 guests + myself and my girlfriend....they aren't into anything that strays too far from a typical applebees menu unfortunately, but are a little open minded...

thanks

[boar_d_laze]

Very winter? Yes.

The bacon-wrapping is very winter. Pears too. Glazed nuts -- thank you, Santa.

Green vegetables in general are spring. Two spring stand outs are asparagus and artichoke. Chokes are notoriously difficult to pair with wine, but the same wines that go well with pork also seem to do well with chokes.

Some spring fruits are strawberries, blueberries, apricots, papaya, pineapple, cantaloupe, grapes, nectarines and figs.

Suggested menu:

Hors d'ouvres: Salmon caviar and avocado on sourdough croutons

Entree: Poached artichoke, served at room temperature, dressed with a lemon/garlic aioli. A

Viandes: Pork tenderloin, crusted with chipotle rub, grilled whole on the Weber, carved table side and served with a rum-raisin-cream sauce. Accompanied by honey-grilled nectarines and rosemary mashed potatoes.

Dessert: Key Lime Pie

Wine: California rose sparkling wine such as Gloria Ferrer Rose or Schrammsberg Blanc de Noir.

Note, the entire dinner may be prepared ahead of the guests' arrival with the exception of the sourdough crouton (which I think you can handle!), and grilling the pork and fruit.

BDL

[RPMcMurphy]

once again thanks!

Salmon caviar is something they probably wouldn't eat....artichokes probably too BUT girlfriend makes a good simple roasted asparagus with garlic and parm...served at room temp. the tenderloin idea sounds good.

they are white wine drinkers...and aren't foodies. Have to put yourself into a 25yr old brain unfortunately...

any other suggestions for topping the croutons? how about a white wine pairing

[RPMcMurphy]

made it for dinner tonight for just us anyways. the good thing is it came out good.

[RPMcMurphy]

found this recipe and it sounds good too...ah well have a week to mull it over.

Recipes : Roasted Asparagus Soup with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Parmesan Croutons : Food Network

[boar_d_laze]

Blow off the artichoke. Serve the GF's asparagus as a separate course. Actually, my first suggestion for an entree was going to be cold poached asparagus with olive oil and lemon. Another possibility is asparagus hollandaise -- but until you're sure of your hollandaise, you might not want to risk it with company. It's not that it's so difficult, it's just heavy on timing. Why put yourself under the pressure at your own party?

Any fish with a sourdough/avocado base is going to be good. How about scallops of poached lobster tail? Or, speaking of lobster, you could do a lobster won ton. Always good to get the cocktail hour going.

BDL

[RPMcMurphy]

Lobster wonton sounds great

[RPMcMurphy]

any recipes for the lobster wonton? is it better to steam them?

[boar_d_laze]

Puree a few scallops. Mince a few chives. Finely shred some daikon. Julienne some carrot (rolls only). Rough chop some lobster tail. Combine the scallops, chives and lobster. Season with fish sauce, salt, pepper. Taste and adjust. Put a little on a wonton skin and either fold (wonton) or roll (egg roll). If rolling, lay the daikon and carrot along the long axis (duh). Deep fry until GBD and serve with Roquefort won ton, and a choice of three sauces. Sweet chili (available at Asian markets), Chinese aioli (equal parts Coleman's dry mustard and white wine, + 6 parts mayo), and dumpling sauce (soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil).

Or, bake wonton skins in a muffin tin to form shells. Fill shells with rough chopped lobster in garlic aioli. Garnish with long chives.

Steamed as dumplings would be great also -- but a difficult food for cocktails.

BDL

[RPMcMurphy]

Update.

Dinner party went well, but I did chicken out.....weather turned grim here in NJ this weekend, so no BBQ.

Girlfriend made a salad with spring greens and I made some balsamic/sugar strawberries, (and glazed pecans). She used BDLs dijon-vinegarette recipe.

Due to time constraints from going out to dinner the night before and sleeping in on Saturday, we just made a shrimp cocktail for an appetizer.....

for the main course and sides, I still kept with the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin fillets, roasted baby red potatoes with rosemary, and garlic/Parmesan asparagus....

dessert, the girlfriend whipped up profiteroles with coffee ice cream and I made a chocolate sauce (the chocolate sauce came out REAL good)

so, all in all, I chickened out....but everyone enjoyed the food and there wasn't a morsel left on anyones plate for any of the courses....(I bought 2 tenderloins, so essentially the good cuts from 4 loins, all went between 6 people!)

..While I didn't make anything I haven't made before, it was the first time I felt VERY comfortable cooking for guests (and without various recipes printed out, granted everything I made was pretty easy). i felt very confident. I've been concentrating on learning how to cook NEW things so much, I never really cooked anything twice!

Rest assured, I will try these lobster wontons in the next two weeks